I weighed every heartbreaking word through unashamed tears in a post that suggested the disease had won - and felt bitterly ashamed.

Ashamed that I’d forgotten everything Stephen had told me only two weeks before. I could almost hear this smiling lad lecturing: “Forget the taps. Make every second count, never take anything for granted, don’t be afraid to try something new – life is for living.”

I first met Stephen, later to become a Birmingham Mail Local Hero, 14 months ago after he’d learnt the tumours that invaded his bowel, then his leg, then his pelvis could not be tamed.

I have met royalty, celebrities and sports stars. I shed their stock sentences shortly after committing them to print. Stephen’s clung to me like cigarette smoke.

He had two ambitions in the time he had left – to raise £10,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust and complete a 46-strong bucket-list: a magical mix of the bizarre – number 30 is ‘hug an animal bigger than me’ – and the badly needed.

As of yesterday, the former outstanding Chase Terrace Technology College student had realised almost £580,000 for fellow young cancer victims and achieved all but 11 goals on his list.

More importantly, he refused to bemoan his fate. He refused to condemn the disease that robbed him of a glittering medical career.

Cancer, he grinned, had been the “kick up the backside” he needed to realise the things that are truly important in life.

Leaking bathtaps are not among them.

He said: “I’ve always said I don’t want to know how long I’ve got. That’s because life shouldn’t be measured by time, it should be measured by what you achieve. I don’t regret anything I did, I only regret the things I didn’t do.

“There might be times when I’m tempted to be bitter, but there is only so long that you can ask ‘Why me?’. I have been to a place that makes you realise life might not be fair, but that realisation pushes you to make it a better place.

“Make every second count, never take anything for granted, don’t be afraid to try something new – life is for living.

Stephen Sutton in hospital

“I see people who want to do more with their life, but don’t have the motivation. I’ve got the motivation.

“I have all the motivation but not a lot of time. Others have a lot of time but not much motivation.

“Cancer gave me a huge kick up the backside, basically. From the off, I’ve been determined to overcome my illness and that attitude has rubbed off on other people. Spread as much positivity as possible – that’s my goal.

“My illness has brought the best out of others, which can only be a good thing.”

Stephen’s slogan made him much sought-after as an inspirational speaker and earned him thousands of followers.

Even chemotherapy could not shackle his spirit. He added: “My illness has ignited a lease of life in me that I would not have discovered.”

I, like so many others, emerged from my meetings with Stephen Sutton a better person. I, like so many others, felt humbled by his courage.

He once described me as a good contact. I look on him as a good friend.

Stephen has one final ambition – to swell his Just Giving fund to £1 million.